Welcome to the exciting world of tri-phase BLDC/PMSM motor driving with the Power Application Controller System On Chip (SOC). PAC5xxx devices integrate all digital and analog components to properly drive tri-phase brushless DC motor topologies in either sensored or sensorless configurations, and using either Six Step Trapezoidal or Field Oriented Control (FOC) algorithms. The list below includes some resources designers may benefit from while exploring the PAC5xxx family of devices.
- To properly choose which PAC5xxx device best suits your application, feel free to use our “Intelligent Motor Controllers” Selection guide
- A few important notes to keep in mind while selecting which PAC5xxx is best:
a. PAC5xxx devices are designed with three main voltage ranges in mind:
i. Low voltage applications ranging from 5V to 72V abs max.
ii. Medium voltage applications ranging from 25V to 160V abs max.
iii. Line power applications (110VAC to 220VAC)
b. The PAC5xxx family is also engineered to provide flexibility with respect to performance vs cost:
i. Lower performance / cost constrained applications will benefit from PAC52xx devices that integrate a Cortex M0 32-bit ARM core with 50 MHz code execution speed, 32 KB of FLASH, 8 KB of RAM, and 10-bit 1-MSPS ADC.
ii. Higher performance / higher peripheral need applications will benefit from PAC55xx devices that integrate a Cortex M4F 32-bit ARM core with 150 MHz code execution speed, 128 KB of FLASH, 32 KB of RAM, and 12-bit 2-MSPS ADC. - To gain a deeper understanding, the user is encouraged to study a device’s supporting technical documentation and collateral. For the following steps, we will use the PAC5523A device as an example.
a. Every device has its own web page available within Qorvo’s main website. As an example, if an application can benefit from a device like the PAC5523A, the user should visit the PAC5523A’s device web page.
b. Within the PAC5523A’s web page, the user will find important documentation like the device’s datasheet (PAC5523A datasheet) and the PAC5523A’s Users Guide (PAC5523A Users Guide), under the “Documents” tab
c. To aid in the quick and easy evaluation of any PAC5xxx device, an evaluation kit is provided. Users are welcome to download all hardware and firmware files pertaining to the evaluation module by accessing the “Evaluations Tools” tab. The Evaluation Tools tab contains important collateral such as:
i. PAC5523AEVK Altium Build Files (Gerbers, BOM, Altium database, etc.)
ii. Firmware example code (Six Step Trapezoidal, FOC, sample code, PAC55xx SDK, Bootloader, etc.)
iii. PAC55xx IDE support
d. Once the user has obtained an EVK and is ready to get started with the hardware and firmware solution, the video “EVK1 Setup and First Run” provides step by step instructions on how to interconnect the hardware modules with an SWD debug/programming module and a PC Computer running the provided Graphical User Interface.